Falling For Alice
by secretfanficlover
Summary: Hermione travels back in time to help save Neville's parents from being tortured, she manages to change things with unforeseen circumstances. Warnings: Cheating, homophobia


**This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

* * *

Word Count: 1779

Title: Falling For Alice

Note: AU! Hermione goes back in time to stop the Longbottom's from getting attacked by Bellatrix and the Death Eaters.

Warnings: Homophobia, underage character/ relationship with older person.

* * *

Golden Snitch

[Name] Crissie

[School] Uagadou

[House] Ogyinae

Third Year Anniversary: Anniversary Three Groups List: The Golden Trio

Write about the beginning of a friendship.

* * *

Hogwarts

Assignment 7: Folklore: Urban Legends: Task #6: Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On the Lights?: Write about someone oblivious to something bad happening around them.

Yearly:

Prompt 655 [Quote] You change the world by being yourself. Yoko Ono

* * *

When Hermione promised Neville she would travel back in time and rescue his parents, she had a plan. It was in the middle of a snowstorm, and Hermione stood in the Astronomy tower with her time turner, and her wand in her hand. She turned the dial until she was back in time- she knew this was when Neville's parents had just gotten together. She believed with all her heart she could change the past, and bring Neville back what he had lost. His parents' memories would help him survive, and with all the death and destruction in the war, she felt perhaps this would make things right.

* * *

How she managed to trick everyone into believing she was just another student was easier than she thought, and getting close to Alice seemed like it was going to be easy. She saw the girl sitting at the Gryffindor table, and walked over to introduce herself. It was then that she noticed Alice was a little bit more popular than she expected. She was sitting with a bunch of gossiping fourteen-year-olds.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself. Alice's friends looked at her like she was a strange new species.

"I'm Alice," she said, and after her friends gave her a curious look, they scattered.

"It's nice to meet you," Hermione said, holding out her hand towards the witch. They shook hands and it was like Hermione got hit by a bolt of lightning. She looked into Alice's royal blue eyes and felt herself falling. This was not how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to save her, not fall in love with her.

"Let's go sit in the Astronomy Tower," Alice said with a smile, surprising Hermione.

"Sounds great, lead the way," she said easily, making it sound like she had never been there before when she had just been there. It was snowing hard outside, and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if she brought the storm with her. She knew she felt an instant connection to Alice, and that started a whole another storm, one that wasn't quite as easy to see.

The two girls sat chatting in the Astronomy tower for ages. It seemed like they just had that much in common. Hermione was half disappointed when the talk turned to Frank.

"He is a good boyfriend, you know. I am sure he will be faithful to me," Alice said with a smile. A gush of wind blew in from the snowstorm outside, making Hermione curl into herself to keep warm.

"Here," Alice said, and with a quick charm, she had a fire burning that warmed up the tower. Hermione simply smiled. She realised that telling the truth isn't one of her options, but perhaps befriending the girl would be enough, and Hermione knew the implications if she messed up. Neville could end up not even being born at all.

"Do you think we are alone in the universe?" Alice asked, looking out at the snowy grounds.

"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space," Hermione replied.

"One does feel so isolated here like time has stopped," Alice said.

Hermione nodded, she felt it too. She had always liked the tower, and it seemed so fitting that it would be the place she got to know Alice. When Hermione told Alice she liked girls, the other one took the news in her stride.

"I don't mind that you are gay," Alice said. "I used to think I was too, my parents told me I would grow out of it, perhaps you will as well?"

Hermione laughed, she knew it was fitting for the period, but she always found Wizarding kind to be very behind in modern developments.

"What's so funny?" Alice asked seriously.

"Never mind, perhaps you are right," she said, she didn't want to get into the ethical implications of Alice's parents telling her she wasn't gay.

* * *

Time passed by, and the closer Hermione got to Alice, the harder she fell for her. Alice was smart and charming. She was naive with regards to relationships, but that just made Hermione feel like she needed to protect her new friend from harm.

A taupe coloured candy cane marked the change in their relationship. Hermione had bought it for Alice, knowing that Alice would be back from her date with Frank soon. Hermione wondered if Frank had been as nice a guy as she had heard because from what she saw now, she didn't see the same man that she believed to be Neville's father.

Alice got back to the Gryffindor common room, and Hermione's smile lit up the room.

"How was your date?" Hermione asked, handing over the small candy cane she had been holding for her best friend. She instantly noticed something wasn't quite right.

Alice was holding the candy cane, then walked over and embraced Hermione. Hermione's body reacted, but luckily for her, Alice didn't notice. When Alice started to cry, Hermione felt like her heart was breaking.

"Hey, hey, sit down, tell me everything," Hermione said, and the two took the red couch by the fire.

"Thank you," Alice said sniffing.

"Of course," Hermione replied, waiting for her friend to tell her what happened. Her eyes swept the common room, making sure they were alone, before pulling her in for another hug.

"So, Frank took me out for ice-cream, and he said…" she broke down again.

"You can trust me," Hermione said.

"Frank said we should make love," she spat out.

"Oh honey, that isn't so bad," Hermione tried to reason, although it made her heart clench in pain.

"I told him I wasn't ready, and he got really mad at me," she said softly. Hermione rocked Alice in her arms until her sobs stopped.

"Did he hurt you? I'll kill him," Hermione snapped.

Alice let out a small giggle, her eyes still red. "No, he would never."

"Good, you can tell him if he doesn't want to wait for you, he can sod off," Hermione replied.

Hermione wasn't sure how much longer she should stay, but she was starting to suspect there was more to it than just Alice. Although she had wanted to help both Frank and Alice, she wasn't sure just how she could do it.

It didn't take long for Hermione to realise that Frank wasn't what he said he was. She didn't want to break them up and cause Neville to never be born, but she also started to see signs that he wasn't as faithful as Alice believed. Alice was naive in that she believed Frank wasn't going to stray.

* * *

Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor dormitory, and she took her time turner out from her trunk. She stared at it in awe, it was so incredible that an object this small could make so much difference. She got out of bed, without really knowing why, and softly walked downstairs. That was when she saw it.

She saw Frank making out with Jenny on the couch, she wanted to take out her wand and curse him, but then Alice might never forgive her. She was about to turn around and walk back up the stairs when Frank saw her.

"You better not tell her," Frank hissed at her. Hermione didn't say anything, all she did was leave the room. She saw Alice sleeping soundly in her bunk, and watched her. Was it a good thing she didn't know? Or did she need to tell her the truth? Maybe she didn't need to tell her, maybe Hermione could just help her see the warning signs.

Hermione didn't tell, and she knew Frank was surprised when Alice walked up to him at the breakfast table and kissed him. The day went by rather uneventfully until Alice asked her if they could study together in the Library. Hermione nodded, no longer needing to pretend she didn't know where anything was, she had been here long enough to know.

They sat in silence, and Hermione looked up from her book to see Alice watching her.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, putting her Quill down.

"What does it feel like?"

"What's what feel like?" Hermione asked confused.

"Making love," she asked blushing.

"I, um, well, I've never done it," Hermione admitted.

"Oh," Alice replied softly.

"Kissing is nice," Hermione said, trying to cheer her up.

"I suppose you kiss girls," Alice said, trying to act indifferent.

"I've kissed girls and boys, both are nice, girls are just softer, you know," Hermione tried to explain.

"Would you show me?" Alice asked, surprising her.

"What about Frank?" Hermione asked even though her body was screaming to react to the request.

"He kisses other girls," Alice whispered. Hermione finally realised there was something more that was keeping them together, that perhaps she knew more than she let on.

"When did you find out?" she asked.

"Yesterday," Alice replied. "I saw him with Olivia in the library."

"Then why don't you leave him?" Hermione asked.

"My parents, well, let's just say I don't have much choice," she said.

Hermione touched Alice's cheek, looking into those royal blue eyes and moving ever so slowly towards her, and then she kissed her. It was gentle and caring, it lacked any fire or passion from Alice. That was when Hermione realised that maybe for Alice it was just a phase, but for her, this wasn't just another kiss. It was what she would use for the rest of her life to measure what she wanted, and it was something just like this.

* * *

When Hermione got back, she felt the cold snowstorm run right through her, as if she would never be warm again. She didn't know if she had fixed it, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Neville rush into the room.

"How did it go?" Neville asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, you tell me," Hermione replied cryptically. She didn't want to tell him she had been making out with his mother when she was meant to just save her from Death Eaters.

"Well, I remember telling you to save my mother, but I am not sure from what," Neville replied.

"And your father?" Hermione asked.

"What father? He is dead to me, leaving our family when I was so young, and for what?" Neville shot back.

"Hang on, was Alice attacked by Death Eaters?" She asked Neville seemed to miss the use of her first name.

"No, not at all, we live close to my grandmother, just the two of us," Neville said with a grin.

"Wow," Hermione said, "I think I messed up."


End file.
